Old Madison Pike widening plans to be on the table

View full sizeHuntsville Times file photoTraffic on Old Madison Pike crosses the bridge over Indian Creek. Construction is expected to start this year to widen the road to four lanes with a grass median and replace the bridges.

HUNTSVILLE, AL. - The proposed final design for widening Old Madison Pike between Slaughter Road and Thornton Research Park is expected to be available for public comments next month.

The city and the state Department of Transportation have scheduled a March 1 public hearing for the project's corridor and design. The hearing will be from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Pope John Paul II Catholic High School multipurpose room at 7310 Old Madison Pike. The easiest way to reach the room is from the back of the school.

The public will be able to view and comment on the plans. Engineers will determine if the comments and suggestions should be incorporated into the project's final design.

The project will involve widening the road to four lanes with a grass median and replacing the bridges over Indian Creek.

In December, Steve Dinges, an assistant director of city planning, said the state expected to open bids for moving utilities in July and open bids for construction in September. The estimated cost is $4 million. The state DOT will provide $2 million of federal money for the project and the city will pay the rest.

Rothmore, Parkway intersection

Development on Memorial Parkway in the Mountain Gap Road and Rothmore Drive area has Vern Gehm worried about the safety of the Parkway and Rothmore intersection. He said in an e-mail that the Rothmore intersection has become "extremely dangerous" since the opening of a drug store and fast-food restaurant on the east side of the Parkway just north of Mountain Gap Road.

"This narrow unmarked intersection supports southbound traffic making U-turns on the Parkway, traffic entering and exiting both businesses, left turns onto and off of Mountain Gap, and left and right turns onto and off of Rothmore," Gehm said.

"The intersection is only about 100 yards north off the Mountain Gap stop light. The Parkway is 50 mph in that area and there are no signs prohibiting or directing any type of turn or crossover."

Rothmore is a major artery in and out of Whitesburg Estates and English Village subdivisions, he said. "It's just a matter of time until somebody gets killed or badly injured," Gehm said.

He asked if someone could look at the intersection, particularly during morning and afternoon rush hours, for possible improvements. "It's total chaos," Gehm said.

The city's Traffic Engineering Department plans to review traffic accident statistics in the area and to count traffic in and out of Rothmore Drive, said Tom Sisco, a traffic engineering analyst with the city Traffic Engineering Department. Sisco plans to determine when the new commercial developments opened and study the accident statistics before and after they opened.